Teaching You a Lesson
by Zip Goes A Million
Summary: Sybil Crawley is a nursing student who hasn't had sex in far too long. With the help of her friends, she goes in search of a one night stand to satisfy her needs. But when her feelings get in the way and she finds herself to have a much more complicated relationship with her new beau than anticipated, it feels like her whole world is crumbling around her.


**Teaching You a Lesson**

Sybil Crawley was studying for a nursing degree at university. She loved her degree and she loved the life she was able to lead at university. She was no longer under the watchful eye and strict rules of her parents. She could do what she wanted, plan out her own time and have some of the freedom that she so desperately craved as a young child. Oddly, when she was a child living at Downton Abbey she often found she felt claustrophobic and just wanted to get out to stop herself from suffocating. But now that she was living in a small shared house and was practically living on top of three other women, she felt more alive and at peace with herself and her surroundings than she had ever felt before.

Before starting at university, Sybil didn't know any of the people she now lived with. But now, being half way through the second year of her three year degree, it was safe to say that the four girls had become the best of friends, despite their differences. Poppy was tall, slim and blonde. Her face was peppered with freckles and she always wore bright lipstick. She was studying geography. Jenna was shorter than Sybil and was Australian. She had long dark hair that naturally fell in perfect beach waves, making Sybil jealous. She loved painting and had turned her bedroom into more of an art studio than a bedroom, and she was studying animal behaviour. Lucy had caramel coloured skin with a mane of curly hair that was both light and dark at the same time. She was obsessed with fashion and was studying English and drama. All of the women had very different personalities and sometimes they clashed, but for the most part, they got on very well with one another.

It was the end of the January and all of their winter exams were over. The units that they had started in September were over and done with, and their new units weren't starting until the following week. On Friday evening, after all the girls had finished their exams (with Lucy's medieval literature exam and Sybil's human anatomy exam being the final two out of the group), they decided to celebrate the newfound (and no doubt short-lived) freedom by having a cosy night in watching bad rom-coms and eating pizza. Somehow the discussion had turned to the subject of how Sybil spent more time studying than any of the other girls, and less time having fun.

"I have fun!" Sybil protested, speaking around a mouthful of pizza.

"Prove it," Poppy demanded.

"What do you mean?" Sybil asked.

"When was the last time you went out to a club?" Lucy asked.

"I don't like clubbing," Sybil replied.

"Okay then, when was the last time you got lucky?" Poppy asked.

"You can't ask her that!" Jenna screeched, much more loudly and at a much higher pitch than she had intended.

"It's fine, Jen," Sybil said. "Sex is not a topic I'm afraid to discuss, especially with you lot."

The room went quiet.

"So?" Poppy prompted.

"So what?" Sybil said.

"So, when did you last have sex?"

Sybil thought back to the last few months. "Probably… Oh, I had that one night stand with Grace in November."

"Grace?" Lucy said. "Grace Jackson? In November?"

"Sybil, honey, that's far too long to go without sex," Poppy said. "February starts next week. You only had sex once the whole of last term, and you even admitted that Grace wasn't that good."

"Really?" Jenna said, being sucked into the conversation. She usually avoided conversations about sex, but when the girls were all discussing it, it was hard to resist joining in. "I've heard so many guys say she's great in bed."

"Maybe she's alright with men, but trust me," Sybil said, "what we did was nothing special."

"Right," Poppy said decisively, "we're going out tomorrow night with one mission. Get Sybil laid."

"I don't like clubbing," Sybil repeated.

"We don't have to go to a club. We could go to a bar instead. As long as it's somewhere where we can find you a potential match, I don't mind where we go."

"I can't do tomorrow. I've got a date with Toby," Jenna said.

"And my parents are coming down for the day tomorrow," Lucy said.

"Fine. Sunday night," Poppy said.

"I have a lecture on Monday morning," Sybil said.

"At what time?" Poppy asked.

"Eleven," Sybil said sheepishly.

"That's no excuse! We're going out on Sunday and you're going to get some!"

-ooo-

That Sunday evening, the girls were in their house getting ready for their night out.

"Will this do?" Sybil said, her patience beginning to wear thin. She had been trying on outfits for what felt like days and she was hoping that this one would finally be the one that she was allowed to wear. She was wearing a plain black short-sleeved top that showed off her curves, tucked into a pair of high-waisted mid-blue skinny jeans. She coupled the look with some black suede chunky heel boots and some silver jewellery. Her hair was left loose, flowing around her shoulders in waves, and her makeup was understated and subtle. She just hoped her housemates thought she looked beautiful enough so that she didn't have to change into yet another outfit.

"Sybil, that's perfect!" said Lucy, giving her best fashion advice. "Honestly, if we weren't friends, I'd fuck you."

Sybil laughed a small laugh. "Thanks," she said. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," Jenna said. "We all know Lucy's picky about who she sleeps with."

"I'm not picky! I'm just careful!"

"Guys, the taxi's here," Poppy called from the other room.

Suddenly the girls starting moving quicker than they had moved all evening. Sybil was ready to go, but Jenna hadn't got her handbag ready, Poppy hadn't chosen which shoes to wear and Lucy was frantically looking for her phone. When they eventually got out the door, Sybil began to feel her heart beating faster. Tonight she would probably have sex with a stranger. She was a tad nervous about it, but she was simultaneously exhilarated by the thought.

When they arrived at the bar they all decided to start with cocktails. Sybil disagreed with the mentality of drinking to get drunk. When she drank alcohol it was because she liked the taste, not because she wanted to get so wasted that she forgot the whole night. But despite this, tonight she did have a feeling that she would need to have a little bit of alcohol in her system to give her the Dutch courage she would need for tonight.

A few drinks in and Sybil was having a great time chatting to her housemates and enjoying the hum of the bar around them. She'd almost forgotten about the aim of the evening, until Lucy tried (and failed) to hold in a squeal.

"Oh my God!" she said, her eyes wide and her enthusiasm penetrating the whole room.

"What?" Sybil said, surprised at her friend's sudden outburst.

"Your perfect man is standing right behind you at the other end of the bar," Lucy said.

Jenna looked over Sybil's shoulder and her jaw dropped.

"Sybil, he's the epitome of your perfect man. I've never seen anyone more your type in my life."

Sybil felt her heart beginning to race again. She turned around in a way that didn't make it look like she was looking specifically for him and glanced at him. The girls were right. He was all the things Sybil always said she wanted physically in a man. Blue eyes. Defined chest. Well dressed. Sandy hair. Forearms exposed below rolled up shirt sleeves. Shame, really. He was probably a knob.

"No need to look so dreary, Syb," Poppy said. "What's wrong with him?"

"Come on Syb, even you have to admit he's gorgeous," Jenna said.

"He is," Sybil said, taking a sideways glance at him until she realised that he was looking back at her.

"So what's the issue?" Poppy said.

"I bet his personality doesn't match his looks," Sybil hummed.

"I bet you're wrong," Lucy said.

"How do you know he's nice?" Sybil asked.

"How do you know he's not?" Lucy countered.

Sybil felt defeated.

"Come on girls," Poppy said. "I think it's high time we went for a group trip to the toilet and left Sybil to ponder her life choices."

"No, no, wait, guys!" Sybil said, trailing off her protest as she watched her so-called friends walking away from her.

She slumped in her seat and leant on the bar, stirring what remained of her cocktail with her straw.

A few moments later, she jumped when she saw a man next to her. It was the man she had been looking at.

"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"You're Irish," she said, the filter between her brain and her mouth not working properly.

He chuckled to himself and gave her a lopsided smile. "I get that a lot."

"Sorry," Sybil said, looking down into her drink, not sure what to do with herself.

"Don't apologise," he said. "I'm Tom."

"Sybil," she said, looking back up at him.

"Did your friends just desert you?" he asked.

Sybil glanced towards the bathroom door.

"Kind of," Sybil said. "But in a friendly way."

"In a friendly way?" he asked.

Sybil took a deep breath.

"They wanted to leave me here on the off chance that I would pluck up the courage to talk to you."

Tom smiled at her.

"Funny," he said. "I was hoping they would leave you alone so that I could come and start a conversation."

"Is that so?" Sybil said, her voice husky.

Tom gave another lopsided smile.

"And why does a woman like you want to talk to a man like me?"

Sybil took a deep breath. She was never forward with men. She was confident and she was a feminist and she fully believed that women should be allowed and even encouraged to make the first move and step up to the role that was traditionally considered reserved only for men. But that didn't stop her from getting nervous every time she spoke to a man she thought she liked.

"Because you're very attractive," she said, forcing herself not to look away from him, despite how much she wanted to direct her voice away from him on the off chance that he might not hear her and he would walk away and she'd be able to say to the girls that she tried, but got nowhere.

He smiled softly at her, never taking his eyes off hers.

"I was thinking something similar about you," he said, his tone of voice low. "What are you drinking?" He looked to her empty cocktail glass before looking back at her face.

"Sex on the beach," she said.

Tom got the bartenders attention and ordered himself a Guinness and Sybil another cocktail.

"A bit grainy," he said.

"What?"

"Sex on the beach. Sand gets everywhere."

Sybil laughed at Tom's comment.

"And you've tried it have you?" she asked.

"Only once. Wouldn't recommend to a friend. Maybe to an enemy," he said with a smirk.

Sybil giggled.

At that moment, the girls re-emerged from the bathroom. Sybil didn't notice them. They carefully kept their distance from her. They could tell from her body language and her laughter that she was enjoying herself. She and Tom were hitting it off and with any luck the night would end like they had planned.

"Do you have many enemies?" Sybil asked.

"One or two," Tom said. "The boy who bullied my little sister is one who springs to mind."

"How much younger is she?" Sybil said.

"Six years," Tom said. "She's in her final year of school now."

Sybil quickly calculated in her head that his little sister was probably seventeen or eighteen, which meant he was twenty three or twenty four. He was a bit older than her, but Sybil liked that. The older he was, the more experience he had. And on a night like tonight, Sybil valued that.

"So what do you do?" Sybil asked. She wanted to change the subject so that he didn't start asking about her family. That really would dampen the mood.

"I'm a historian," Tom said.

"Oh, interesting," Sybil said. "Any particular time period?"

"A bit of everything really. I never managed to narrow down what I wanted to learn about. What about you? What do you do?"

"I'm a nurse," Sybil said. She decided to leave out the bit about how she wasn't actually qualified yet and was still in university. It might not have made a difference, but it might have scared him away, which she really didn't want to do.

"My mam's a nurse," he said, clearly feeling some fondness rising in him. "I've got a lot of respect for what nurses do."

Sybil smiled at him. It was nice to be praised for something she felt so passionate about.

"God knows nurses were an important part of my life when I broke my wrist."

"How did you manage that?" Sybil asked, expecting him to say that it happened when he fell out of a tree when he was seven years old.

Tom went a slightly deeper shade of red.

"You know I was telling you about that time I had sex on the beach?"

Sybil tried to stifle a laugh. She covered her mouth with her hand to try and keep her laughter hidden.

"Okay!" Tom said. "I know it's funny. But we've all been in embarrassing situations."

"Not like that, we haven't!" Sybil giggled. "Please, spare me the details!" She glanced across the bar and saw Poppy, Jenna and Lucy together on the other side of the bar, looking back at her, seeing how she was getting on.

Sybil smiled at them, letting them know that she was enjoying herself.

When she and Tom finished their drinks, after a few more giggles and lot of flirtatious touches, Tom whispered into Sybil's ear,

"If I were to invite you back to mine for the night what would your answer be?"

Sybil smiled at him.

"Lead the way," she said.

He took her hand and gently led her out of the building. As Sybil stepped down from her barstool she looked back towards her friends and gave them a small wave. They knew exactly where she was going and what she would spend her evening doing, and they were all very pleased for her. Their mission for the evening was complete.

"It's only a five minute walk," Tom said to Sybil, placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked out of the bar carpark and onto the pavement of the main road.

"Five minute walk from a bar," Sybil said. "Not a bad location."

"Believe me," Tom said, "living so close to a bar is sometimes something you quickly regret when you wake up in the morning."

"At least it teaches you to nurse a hangover!" Sybil laughed.

"I'm hoping your nursing will be better than mine tonight," he said, his voice deep, his accent thick and his tone scratchy.

Sybil's breath hitched in her throat in a way that sent a shockwave through her body. Maybe it was love at first conversation. More likely it was the adrenaline rushing through her body because she was being walked back to a stranger's house to sleep with him. As much as Sybil's rational mind couldn't help but explain everything logically, there was definitely another part of her that couldn't help but wonder, couldn't help but hope that the adrenaline in her blood was joined by norepinephrine and dopamine, the chemicals of love. Tonight was supposed to be just a one night stand. Tonight and nothing more. Never to see the object of tonight's passion ever again. But what if it didn't end that way? What if tonight was only the beginning of something much larger? The beginning of something much more wonderful.

-ooo-

Before Sybil knew it, she was being torn out of her thoughts by Tom as they approached his front door.

"You've gone very quiet," Tom said.

Sybil shook her head. "I'm just in my own thoughts. I'm fine."

"I'm not doing anything if you don't want to. Do you actually want to do this?" Tom said. "Because we don't have to."

Sybil slowed and came to a stop at Tom's front door, standing next to him, looking at him. He didn't even make a move to get his keys out of his pocket. He was waiting for an answer. He needed to be sure that Sybil was completely on board with the direction they were heading in.

"No," Sybil said. "I want to. I really do."

Tom gave a small smile and found his keys. He twisted them in the lock and pushed the door open, stepping into the house and letting Sybil follow behind him.

"Do you have housemates?" Sybil said, suddenly aware that she might get some sudden and hurried introductions.

"Yes, two," Tom said. "But neither of them are here."

Sybil involuntarily visibly relaxed.

"And the outside walls are thicker than you think. We can make as much noise as we want."

Tom smirked at her. Sybil quirked an eyebrow at him. The noise hadn't been her concern, but knowing that they could be as loud as they wanted was definitely a turn on.

"Good to know," she rasped.

Tom put his keys on the side and Sybil put her bag on the floor.

"Do you want a drink?" he offered. "Water? Coffee? Wine?"

Tom turned towards what Sybil presumed was the kitchen, but Sybil reached forward and grabbed his wrist. She brought him close to her. It wasn't hard. He wasn't resisting a whole lot. They were close. Inappropriately close.

"I'd rather just have you," she said, her voice huskier than normal and her breath hot and desperate.

"Mm," Tom hummed as he lowered his lips to Sybil's neck. "Would you?" he whispered.

Shivers went through Sybil's body, only making her want him more.

"I would," Sybil whispered back to him, dropping her head to one side, giving him more space. "With the greatest respect, I politely ask you to fuck me."

"On one condition," Tom said.

"And what would that be?" Sybil asked seductively.

"The fucking itself doesn't have to be polite."

"Deal."

Tom immediately took Sybil by the hand and led her quickly up the stairs to his bedroom. She wanted him. He wanted her. And it didn't have to be polite. Perfect.

Once they were in Tom's room, Sybil took off her shoes, toppling sideways as she balanced, or rather failed to balance, on one foot. Tom caught her as she fell into him.

"One too many drinks?" Tom asked.

"Absolutely not," Sybil said. "Just the right amount."

She smirked at him slightly. With her shoes off, she was significantly shorter than Tom. He had about five inches on her. Not that that would make any difference tonight.

Tom took off his own shoes and began unbuttoning his shirt. When he threw it off behind him, Sybil couldn't help but stare at his figure. She certainly had chosen a good man to see naked. She took off her own top, revealing a black lacy bra that cupped her breasts beautifully. Tom stepped closer to Sybil and lifted her up, only to put her down on the bed, straddling her and begging for more. She was gorgeous and Tom couldn't quite believe that at least for tonight she would be nothing but his.

He leant down and laid a trail of languid kisses across the top line of her bra. Sybil felt the stubble of Tom's jaw on her bare skin and her breathing quickened, pushing her breasts up towards Tom's lips every time she inhaled. Tom hummed gently against Sybil's skin, making Sybil whimper quietly. At the sound of her whimper, Tom smirked mischievously. He made his way down her body, leaving a trail of kisses down the centre of her stomach. When he reached the fly of her jeans he tugged it away from her skin with his teeth. Sybil involuntarily bucked her hips up to him.

"You really want this," Tom said, surprised at Sybil's eagerness.

"You have no idea," Sybil moaned, her voice deep and desperate.

Tom undid Sybil's jeans for her and pulled them down when Sybil lifted her hips off the bed. He hooked his fingers into the waistband of her jeans and her underwear and pulled them off at the same time, down as far as her knees. Sybil shifted her position slightly and took the clothes on the bottom half of her body off completely, letting them slide off the edge of the bed and hit the floor.

Tom ran his hands up and down Sybil's freshly shaved legs, over her hips, up to her waist, admiring her curves before he conquered them and claimed them as his own.

He shimmied down her body and laid lines of kisses up the inside of Sybil's thighs, leading to the point she wanted him to give attention to most, but missing it each time to restart his trail on the opposite leg. He repeated this a few times, Sybil's moans and whimpers getting louder and more impatient each time.

"Please, Tom," she said, begging him for more.

But he avoided that part of her. He made her wait. He returned up her body and reached behind her to unclip her bra, revealing her hard nipples. Once the bra was discarded carelessly on the floor, Tom leant down and encased Sybil's nipples in his mouth one at a time, tugging on them gently with his teeth, sucking them with his lips, flicking them with his tongue.

"Jesus Christ!" Sybil howled. With each flick she wanted him more. Her breasts had always been one of her more sensitive erogenous zones, but most people she had slept with in the past seemed to ignore them. Or at least, they often fondled them by hand, but rarely stimulated them with tongues and teeth. Tom had instantly found exactly what Sybil liked and she wasn't about to stop him.

Sybil's eyes were closed and her head was digging into the mattress when Tom pulled away from her breasts. She let out a small wince and held her breath, hoping that he would come back to her.

He did. But not at all in the way Sybil had expected.

She gasped when she felt his lips on her clit. She lifted herself onto her elbows so that she could look down on Tom as he licked her juices from her core, nuzzling her nub with his practised tongue. The stubble of his chin pressed against her folds, making her want more.

With each flick of the tongue Sybil let out louder and louder gasps. She whispered and shouted and begged Tom's name until the fireworks at her entrance exploded within her.

"Oh my God," Sybil breathed as she came down from her high. "Jesus Christ you're good."

"I won't have that blasphemy in my bedroom," Tom said softly as he trailed kisses across Sybil's stomach.

"Are you religious?" Sybil asked, catching her breath.

"Not anymore," he said between kisses.

"Anymore?" Sybil questioned. "You lost faith?"

Tom shuffled up the bed so that he was lying next to Sybil, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her.

"I went to church every Sunday when I was a child because my mam's Catholic. I never had any strong feelings for or against, but when I was fourteen mam let me choose whether to continue going or not. When I thought about it I realised that I believed because I thought I should, not because I actually did. So I stopped going."

"You're ripped," Sybil said, staring at his chest.

"Sorry?" he said, not having received the memo that the topic of conversation was changing.

"Sorry, I lost interest in the religion thing. I got distracted. You're really hot," Sybil laughed, still staring down at Tom's chest. She straddled Tom's torso and looked down at his chest, simultaneously allowing him to look at her breasts. "I mean, your chest is what Greek statues are made of."

Tom laughed at Sybil's comments as she traced the outlines of his muscles with her fingertips.

"I mean it!" Sybil said with a small laugh. "You were attractive with your clothes on, but with your clothes off… just… wow!"

"Prove it to me," Tom said, his voice dropping in pitch with each word. "Show me you mean it."

Sybil willingly stopped straddling Tom and sat beside him as he shimmied off his jeans and underwear. In Sybil's pleasure she had barely even noticed that Tom was only half undressed. Tom lay on the bed as Sybil wrapped her fingers around his already hard penis. She moved her wrist up and down his shaft, creating the friction she knew he wanted. Before long he was bucking his hips towards her, wanting more than just the touch of her fingers.

Sybil leant down and gently kissed each side of Tom's V before moving up his body, leaving a trail of kisses between his abs on the way.

"We need a condom," she said. "Mine are downstairs in my bag."

"Bottom drawer," Tom said, pointing to his bedside table.

Sybil moved over him and leant down to open the drawer, nearly falling head first off the bed in the process.

"A word of advice for next time," Tom said, laughing at Sybil's inelegant retrieval of her desired prize. "Maybe if you plan on having sex, either put your condoms in your pocket or bring your bag up to the bedroom."

"Does it look like I have pockets on me?" Sybil said with a small laugh.

"No," Tom said, holding her waist as she stared down at him. "But your pockets are much closer than your bag."

"Well I suppose it's a good thing that you have your own stash, then, isn't it?" she said, handing him to unopened condom.

Tom took it from her and ripped the packaging off before unrolling the protection onto his arousal.

Sybil immediately ground her hips against Tom's, barely giving him a chance to get his hands out of the way. They were both more than ready for the next stage.

Sybil took Tom's cock in her hand and lowered herself onto him, guiding him into her until she knew they were as together as they could be. She bit her lip at the sensation and held her breath for a moment.

Tom took hold of Sybil's waist in his strong gentle hands, guiding her in a rhythm as she started moving her hips against his. They both groaned, loudly, and at the same time. Their synchronised exclamations made the whole experience a lot hotter. They sped up their motions until they both released the tension that had been building up within them. With screams of desire and want and passion they fell next to each other on the bed, catching their breath.

"So now I know what it's like to have sex with a Greek god," Sybil said between breaths.

"I'm Irish, not Greek," Tom said with a cheeky smirk.

Sybil laughed lightly at his comment. "Irish or Greek, you're a god nonetheless. I've never had sex like that. Though, I'll be honest, for a fucking that explicitly didn't have to be polite, I think that was quite tame."

"Really?" Tom asked, his tone dripping with sexual desire and his eyes darkening.

"I just think we can do better," Sybil said, feigning nonchalance.

"Is that a challenge?" Tom said as he moved to be on top of Sybil and kissed her neck just below her ear.

It was time for Tom to prove that tame and polite wasn't what he was best at.

-ooo-

The following morning, Sybil woke up in Tom's bed to find him not lying next to her, but standing beside the bed buttoning his shirt.

Sybil rolled over in bed to look more fully at Tom.

"Mornin'," he said, flashing Sybil some of his best Irish charm.

"Morning," Sybil replied, stretching her legs out beneath the covers.

"Sleep well?" Tom asked with a lopsided smirk. The same lopsided smirk as he had given her last night in the bar. Only this time with a bit more mischief behind it.

"You know I did," Sybil said, unable to hide her grin. After a night like they had, it would be hard not to have a good night's sleep. "I haven't slept that well in a _very_ long time." She also hadn't had such good sex so many times in one night in a very long time.

"I'll take that as a compliment, shall I?"

"Absolutely," Sybil hummed. "What time is it?"

Tom looked at his watch. "Half eight. And if I don't hurry up I'm going to be late for work."

"You're just going to leave me here?" Sybil said. "A stranger? In your bed? When you can't even rely on your housemates to check on me so that I don't destroy the place?"

"After last night, Sybil, I can't possibly think of you as a stranger."

Sybil couldn't help but blush a little and smile at his comment.

"I'm going to go to work in a minute and I am going to leave you in my bed with nobody to check that you're not destroying the place, yes," Tom said. "But you are a nurse, so I trust you."

Tom left the room briefly before returning with a slip of paper. He handed it to Sybil. She read the collection of numbers and letters – Tom's contact details.

"I don't want today to be the end of this."

"What is _this_?" Sybil asked.

"I don't know," Tom said. "But I like it. And I want it to continue."

"Me too," Sybil said.

"Okay, um, turn the lights out and shut the front door when you leave. But until then, help yourself to anything in the kitchen and try not to burn the house down."

"I'll try my best," Sybil said with a laugh.

Tom turned to leave for work before turning back to Sybil and saying, "Thank you. I can't remember when I last had that much fun."

"Ditto," Sybil smiled.

"Right, see you soon."

"Absolutely."

-ooo-

It wasn't long before Sybil decided to leave too. Without Tom there, there was no reason to stay in his house. She harvested her clothes from the floor around the bed, remembering the previous night's antics as she did so. She straightened the bed and went downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee before leaving. She ordered a taxi that would arrive with enough time to let her finish her drink.

She sat down at the kitchen counter and sipped at the hot nectar as she looked at her phone. She had a stream of messages from her "Dream Team" group chat, the chat she had with her housemates. All of the messages were of the same tone.

 _How is he, Syb?_

 _Is he good in bed?_

 _Are you sure he's not an axe murderer?_

Sybil typed out a message back to them.

 _He's not a serial killer. He's gone to work. I'm having coffee. I'm getting a taxi home in 20 minutes._

Within moments her phone was erupting with more messages demanding more information, but Sybil ignored them. There were some things that she just had to keep to herself.

-ooo-

When she walked through her front door, her housemates practically jumped on her for information.

"How was he?"

"Tell us everything!"

"Are you seeing him again?"

"Good morning to you too," Sybil said sarcastically as she tried to make it further into the house. She was stopped by her nosy housemates.

"So?" Jenna said.

"So what?" Sybil said, though she knew exactly what Jenna was getting at.

"How was last night?"

"I'm going to go and have a shower," Sybil said.

She pushed her way past them and jogged up the stairs. Despite the fact that she had been up half the night with Tom, she felt energised and ready to face whatever the day had to throw at her. She quickly dumped her bag in her room and then moved to the bathroom to have a shower. She turned the hot tap on to give the water a chance to warm up while she brushed her teeth. She opened Spotify on her phone and put her favourite playlist on shuffle as the soundtrack to her shower. She sang along loudly to every song that came on and was in no hurry. When she eventually got out of the shower she took her time getting dressed, choosing what to wear based on the weather and her mood. It was going to be chilly today. Not quite freezing temperatures, but not far off. And after last night, she was feeling very body confident, so wanted something to show off her best assets. She eventually settled for a denim skirt with thick woollen tights and a russet coloured long sleeved top. She dried her hair and left it to hang loose around her shoulders and wore her favourite set of jewellery – a silver heart locket necklace that she had had since she was six, and a pair of real pearl earrings that she had received from her parents for her seventeenth birthday. Sybil wasn't one to wear a lot of makeup, but she decided today to jazz up her look with some eye makeup and a russet lipstick to match her top.

When she had finished getting dressed she made her way back downstairs where her housemates were all sitting in the living room. They stared at her when Sybil walked in.

"Don't you three have lectures or something to go to?" she asked, feigning exasperation.

"Not today we don't," Poppy said. "You're the only one of us who has to go in today."

Sybil rolled her eyes and left the room for the kitchen.

"Wait, where are you going?" Poppy said, standing up and following Sybil.

"To make myself a cup of tea," Sybil said, carrying on her way, "unless that's no longer allowed."

"You've got to tell us about last night," Jenna said, as the three girls joined Sybil in the kitchen.

"Why?" Sybil said, filling the kettle. "I don't grill you on your sex lives."

"Because our sex lives don't involve a one night stand with someone as hot as the guy you slept with last night," Poppy said.

" _The guy I slept with last night_ has a name," Sybil retorted.

"Which is…?" Lucy probed.

"Tom," Sybil said plainly with a slight sigh.

"Oh, come on, Sybil, we need more than a name!" Poppy said overdramatically.

"Was the sex good?" Lucy said.

"I'm not going to talk about it," Sybil said, continuing to make her coffee.

"So it was good," Lucy said.

"How'd you figure that?" Jenna said.

"Because Sybil has never refused to talk about sex before. She's not secretive about it."

" _She_ ," Sybil said, "is still in the room and would appreciate if you didn't talk about her in third person."

Sybil picked up her mug and made her way back into the living room, settling on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, cradling the warm mug in her hands.

"Come on Sybil, you have to give us something," Poppy said. "At least tell us if he was a good kisser."

"I don't think I kissed him once, actually," Sybil said, thinking back to the night before. _At least not on the lips_ , she thought.

"I'll bet you ten quid it was the best sex she's ever had," Lucy said.

"But how can that bet work if she never tells us about it?" Jenna said, pointing out the flaw in Lucy's wager.

"Okay, I'm in for a pool if you two are. Five quid says she cracks before the end of the day," Lucy said, re-evaluating the sort of bet she was making.

"I'm in," Poppy said. "I think it will take a few days. I give her till Friday. Jenna?"

"No, she'll last longer. Two weeks I say."

" _She_ is still here," Sybil said loudly, trying to stop her friends from talking about her when she was still in the room.

Eventually the conversation about Sybil's sex life settled down and before long Sybil was leaving her friends to make it to her lecture on time. She had no intention of disclosing the previous night's activities to her friends. With any luck, they wouldn't still be badgering her about it when she returned from her lecture.

-ooo-

When Sybil arrived at her lecture theatre she sat beside some friends from her course and got out her notebook and a pen, ready to take notes when the lecture started. This new unit was entitled "A Brief History of Medicine". It was a new module that the department hadn't run in previous years, so Sybil didn't really have any idea what to expect, but she was looking forward to it. From the unit description that the department had provided to the students, it certainly looked interesting. She just hoped the lecturer was good. The lecturer teaching this unit was a new member of staff and nobody in Sybil's cohort had been taught by them before. They hadn't been told anything about the new teacher. Not even a name.

Sybil got chatting to her friends as they waited for the lecture to start, catching up after the Christmas holidays. Sybil was careful to leave out details of last night's escapades. That glorious memory was for her ears only. Sybil was so engrossed in talking to her friends that she didn't even notice the lecturer walk in and get the computer set up.

"Good morning, everyone."

Sybil was snapped out of her conversation in a split second by the sound of the lecturer's voice as he got the attention of his new students.

Suddenly Sybil lost control of her body. Her heart simultaneously sunk into her stomach and jumped into her throat, stopped dead and beat at a rate of a hundred beats per minute. Her lungs stopped expanding and contracting and her jaw fell open. She knew that voice. She knew that man. She had slept with him last night.

It was a small lecture theatre. There were only about forty students in the room. She caught Tom's eye and she knew that he knew. He didn't even flinch.

"My name is Tom Branson and I'll be teaching you this unit. In today's lecture I plan on giving you a quick overview of what I'll be teaching you this term and then hopefully getting started promptly."

Sybil couldn't stop staring at him. He was a historian. She knew that. She had found that out yesterday. He didn't mention that he was a university lecturer and that he was teaching the second year nurses.

"Sybil, are you okay?" Peter, the man sitting next to Sybil whispered, giving her a small nudge with his elbow. "You've gone really pale."

Sybil snapped out of her trance. She took her eyes off Tom and looked at Peter. She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied.

"You should have some water," he said, offering her his bottle.

She took it from him and took a few sips, thanking him quietly so as not to disturb everybody else's learning.

During the remaining two hours of the lecture, Sybil tried hard to concentrate on the information being taught, rather than on the person providing said information. It wasn't an easy feat. Her heart rate didn't settle for the whole two hours. She had kissed his chest. She had heard him scream her name in pleasure. She had slept with her lecturer. Sybil was struggling to see the bright side of this situation.

Sybil stayed quiet for the two hours, trying to behave as normally as she could. This wasn't an ideal scenario by any stretch of the imagination, but she had to act as if nothing was wrong. If she let on to anyone that something was up, she would be in an ever deeper hole.

When the lecture finished, after the longest two hours of her life, Sybil made her excuses not to go out for coffee with her friends, as they often did after lectures and immediately went home.

She couldn't get home fast enough.

As soon as she got through the door she called out to her housemates, hoping they would all still be in the house.

"Guys I need help!" she called through the house before she had even closed the front door behind her. "Emergency house meeting!"

Within moments, Lucy and Poppy appeared at the top of the stairs and Jenna appeared in the doorway to the living room.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked as she followed Poppy down the stairs.

Sybil hurried into the living room, followed by her housemates. Sybil paced around the room as she explained. She was close to the point of hyperventilation.

"The guy I slept with last night. I really liked him. And I think he liked me. Or, at least, he gave me his number and he said he wanted to see me again. And he's really nice. And Jesus Christ is he hot without clothes on. And the sex was the most earth-shattering sex I've ever had."

"Finally, she speaks!" Lucy joked. The other girls laughed at the comment. "You two owe me a fiver each! I told you she wouldn't last the day."

Sybil wasn't amused at the comment. She ignored Lucy entirely and carried on with her train of thought. Her words were hurried and everything seemed to come out with one breath.

"And he's my new lecturer."

She stopped pacing briefly to see her housemates' reactions. All of them stared back at her, mouths agape and eyes wide.

One beat passed. Then another. Time seemed to be standing still as Sybil waited for a reaction. Any reaction.

"Shit," Poppy said finally.

"You think?!" Sybil almost exploded.

"What are you going to do?" Jenna asked.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be asking you guys for help," Sybil said, calming her voice slightly. She had passed the point of rapid breathing and almost unintelligible fast talking, and was now on the verge of tears. The adrenaline she had felt during and immediately after the lecture had dissipated and she was now beginning to crash after such an emotional high.

"Have you spoken to him at all?" Poppy said.

"Not since he left me in his bed this morning," Sybil said, doing her best to hold back her tears.

"You've got to talk to him," Lucy said.

"How can I?" Sybil said, unable to hold back a sob. "There's a policy against students and staff being together."

"So there are a few options," Poppy said. "You can call it quits and have the memory of a great one night stand. Or you can start seeing him properly but keep it hidden. Or you wait until he's no longer your superior and then start something with him."

"I don't like any of those options," Sybil said, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. "What I want to do is start seeing him properly now and not keep it hidden from anyone. I really like him and I don't want to have to hide that."

"I hope for your sake that he's a knob," Lucy said.

"Why?" Sybil said with a sound that might have been a sob or a laugh.

"Because meeting someone who's great in bed, only to find he's really nice and you can't have him is heart-breaking. At least if he's a knob, it's less depressing to lose him."

Sybil smiled a small smile at her friends. They always knew how to make things better.

"Have you got any plans for the rest of the day?" Jenna said.

Sybil shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Go and put on some comfier clothes," Jenna said. "We're having ice cream and chick flicks for lunch."

All the girls perked up at that. A girly day in with her best friends was exactly what Sybil needed after the morning she had had. With a few hours of distance maybe things would become clearer and they would be able to figure out the best course of action for Sybil. She went up to her room and put on a comfy T-shirt along with her pyjama bottoms and a hoodie. Maybe things wouldn't turn out between her and Tom, but at least she knew that her best friends would always be there for her.

-ooo-

Hours had passed and the girls had consumed an unhealthy amount of ice cream whilst watching _Me Before You_ , _Mamma Mia_ and _The Notebook_. They had decided against watching a fourth film for fear that their eyes might begin to go square.

"I vote pizza," Lucy said. "Let's order in. I can't face the thought of actually having to cook something for myself."

"You know, Lucy, sometimes the things you say make me think you're a real life angel!" Poppy said.

"Actually," Sybil said, "I think I just want to go to bed. I'm not hungry and after the day I've had I think I need to give myself some time to recharge."

"Are you completely sure?" Jenna said.

Sybil nodded.

"If you need anything, you know we're always here, don't you?" she said.

"Always," Sybil said, giving a soft smile to her friends.

She said goodnight to them and made her way upstairs. She was already wearing clothes she could sleep in and she didn't feel at all in the mood to change her attire, so she just crawled into bed. She reached across her bedside table to pull her phone charger across so that she could charge her phone overnight. Before she settled to go to sleep she quickly checked her social media. Nothing interesting was happening. She pulled open the top drawer of her bedside table and took out the slip of paper that Tom had given her that morning. Tonight wasn't a wise time to text him. She knew that. But she couldn't deny that the temptation was definitely there. After a moment of staring at the numbers, she shut the paper in the drawer and put her phone down on the side. She turned over in bed and to her surprise she was asleep within moments. She knew she needed sleep, but she hadn't realised that she needed it so badly. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day.

-ooo-

Sybil woke up wondering what the time was. Her curtains were open, but there wasn't much natural light coming through the window. It can't have been much later than 7 o'clock. She rolled over in bed and picked up her phone, unlocking it to see the time. 6:48. It was earlier than she had thought. Thanks to the early night she had got last night, her body must have thought it was time for an early morning to match. Sybil had been hoping to sleep in a little and get as much rest as possible.

Sybil wasn't the sort of person who could just stay in bed for hours. Once she was awake, she was awake. She may as well make the most of it.

As quietly as possible, so as not to disturb her still sleeping housemates, she went about getting ready for the day. She got dressed, washed her face and cleaned her teeth. She went downstairs trying her best to avoid the squeaky floorboards. There were empty pizza boxes and half-full glasses scattered around the living room. The girls had obviously had a good night without her. Sybil made herself some toast and a glass of orange juice for breakfast, which she worked her way through in silence as she scrolled through BBC news on her phone.

Once she had finished her breakfast, she was at a loss. She had no idea what to do with herself. She had a lecture at 9 o'clock, but the lecture theatre was only just round the corner from her house. It would only take five minutes to walk there. She still had too much time to kill.

After a few minutes of going through every scenario she could think of in her head, she decided to go for a walk. It was early. The sun wasn't fully up yet, but it was up far enough to light the way for a walk along the river.

She went upstairs as quietly as she had come down to put on some more layers and find some decent shoes that would keep her feet warm and dry from the cold and wet grass.

Before long she was out of the house. She didn't bother leaving a note to let her friends know where she had gone, should they wake up and wonder. If they wanted to know, they could contact her on her mobile.

Sybil walked at a brisk pace, breathing in the cold air as she stuffed her hands in her pockets, wishing she hadn't forgotten to bring her gloves. As she walked she let her mind wander. No matter what happened between her and Tom, she still had to get on with her life. She had a degree to study for and she had a life outside of her academic endeavours. She had to make time for her friends and her hobbies and even a bit of time for her family. She had to make sure she was kind to herself even if things ended up going badly with Tom. The thing that was so difficult was the not knowing how things were going to turn out with Tom. She had to find out. She had to talk to him and they had to figure out a plan. It might not be an easy conversation to have. It _definitely_ wouldn't be an easy conversation to have. But it was a necessary conversation. A conversation that she anticipated and dreaded simultaneously.

Sybil looked up from her feet, only to practically crash into someone coming the other way.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said instinctively before she had even really processed what had just happened.

"No, no, my fault."

"Tom?" Sybil said, recognising that voice.

"Sybil."

"Tom."

"What are you doing here?" Tom asked. "Nobody's out this early in this weather unless they have to be."

"I couldn't sleep," Sybil said. "I thought a walk might clear my head."

"Great minds think alike," Tom said with a small smile.

Sybil smiled back.

"I've been wanting to talk to you," Tom said.

"Me too," Sybil said.

"Have you got time to talk now?" Tom asked.

"I've got plenty of time," Sybil said. "But can we go somewhere a bit warmer?"

"I know a little independent café not far from here. It's unlikely we'd be spotted by any students in there."

Sybil nodded with a smile. She followed Tom to the café, the pair of them barely speaking to each other on the journey. They bought themselves a cup of coffee each and sat down at the back of the room so as not to be too near any windows where prying eyes might see them and question why they were together.

"Sorry, I didn't call yesterday," Sybil said. "Just…" she took a deep breath, trying to form her thoughts into some sort of logical order. "Seeing you at the front of that lecture theatre completely threw me. Suddenly you were a lecturer and I was a student and you were my superior and I didn't really know how to react to it. I wasn't expecting it at all."

"Neither was I," Tom said. "You didn't say you were a student. When you said you were a nurse, I assumed you were a fully qualified one."

"Yeah," Sybil said, looking sheepishly down into her coffee. "I left out that detail on purpose. I thought it might put you off. I went out that night specifically looking for sex and I wasn't about to say something that I thought might reduce the chances of that. What I didn't anticipate was for the sex to be so good and for the company to be so nice and for my feelings to get in the way and then for this to happen." Sybil gestured to the situation between them. Man, woman. Him, her. Teacher, student. This was never the plan.

Tom smiled at Sybil.

"This wasn't exactly my plan, either," he said. "But then again, I've never been good at following plans. Why follow a plan when you can break the rules?" he laughed.

Sybil did too. The tension between them was still definitely there, but slowly but surely it was beginning to dissolve into thin air around them.

"The thing is," Sybil said. "I like the idea of breaking the rules, in this case at least. But, if I get caught sleeping with a member of university staff, especially one who actually teaches part of my course, the university has every right to kick me out and to fire you."

Tom looked at her with his brow knotted.

"I want to be a nurse. I'm half way there and I'd be devastated to have to throw that all away now. And I couldn't bear to know that I'm the reason you lose your job," Sybil said.

"I'm not going to lose my job," Tom said. "And you're not going to get kicked off your course."

Sybil frowned at him. Did he mean because he didn't think they should see each other again? Or did he mean because he was going to break the rules and try to keep it quiet?

"If you concur," Tom said, "and only if you concur, I think we should make a go of it."

"You mean…?" Sybil stuttered, unable to finish her sentence.

"I mean, you and I, we get together. But we keep it quiet. We only let people know who absolutely have to know. It will mean sneaking around. It will probably mean lying to a few people. It will also probably mean sometimes not seeing each other for stretches of time so as not to look suspicious to friends and colleagues."

Sybil stared at him, not sure what to say to him.

"I don't think it's going to be easy. But I think… I hope it's going to be worth it."

"Are you a good liar?" Sybil asked.

"There are a few things about my teenage years that mam never found out, let's put it that way. And she can smell a lie a mile off."

Tom gave Sybil a cheeky grin.

"Okay," Sybil said.

"Okay?" Tom asked, hoping that he had heard correctly.

"Okay," Sybil nodded. "Let's try. But we're going to need rules."

"Agreed," Tom nodded.

"During the day, during term time, you are Tom Branson, history lecturer, and I am Sybil Crawley, aspiring nurse."

"Right," Tom agreed. "Anything personal between us is confined to the evenings."

"Or the early mornings," Sybil said with a mischievous grin.

"It's going to be tricky," Tom said. "We live right in the middle of a busy university town. If ever we go out anywhere together, people are bound to see us and question it."

"So we're careful. We learn to be tactful. We avoid places where there are likely to be lots of students," Sybil said. "And other members of staff," she added as an afterthought.

"And we learn to make good excuses on the spot when required."

"I was a rebellious teenager," Sybil said. "I don't need to learn to make good excuses on the spot. I'm already an expert!"

"Glad to hear it!" Tom chuckled.

Sybil paused before saying her next words.

"Are you sure this is a wise idea?" she said.

"Not in the slightest," Tom said. "But nothing good is sensible."

Sybil smiled. This, whatever _this_ was, certainly wasn't sensible. But it felt good. And somehow it felt right. And with a little luck and some top class sneaking around, it would last for a long time. After the emotional rollercoaster of the last few days, this was exactly the feeling Sybil needed.

-ooo-

When Sybil walked through her front door, she found herself smiling without even realising it.

"You look happy," Poppy said, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in her hands. "Where were you?"

"I went for a walk. I'll tell you all about it later, but I need to go. If I don't go now I'm going to be late for my lecture," Sybil said.

Sybil rushed upstairs to grab what she needed and headed out the door without saying another word.

"What was that about?" Lucy said, coming into the kitchen.

"I have no idea," Poppy said. "But she's happy. Weirdly so."

"Do you think she called Tom and sorted something out?"

"I don't know," Poppy said sceptically. "She said she went for a walk."

"In this weather?" Lucy said. "Something must have happened for her to come back so cheery."

"We just need to find out what."

-ooo-

When Sybil returned from her lecture, one not taught by Tom, she explained to her housemates what had happened to put her in such a good mood. She told them that she and Tom were going to try and be a couple in secret, and see how it went.

"But what happens if you break up and then he has to grade you?" Jenna asked.

"Then he acts professionally and gives me the grade I deserve based on the work I've done. If he gives me a crap mark when I've done something well and vice versa, it would just look more suspicious. I don't think he'd risk his job like that."

"What happens if someone catches you together and tells the university?" Lucy asked.

"They won't," Sybil said. "We're going to be careful. We're only going to see each other in the evenings and we're not going to walk around town together, at least until the risk of me getting kicked out and him losing his job are a bit lower. And we're going to have to fib to some people to get away with it, but what people don't know won't hurt them, and I think we can make it work."

"It's not going to be easy, Syb," Poppy said.

"I know," Sybil said. "But I think it's going to be worth it. Can you guys promise me to keep this between us? What's said in this room stays in this room."

The three girls agreed to Sybil's terms.

"I'm pleased for you," Poppy said. "You seem happy. You haven't been this happy in a while. You deserve to be this happy."

"I am happy," Sybil smiled. "I think Tom is going to make me very happy. I think I've made the right choice."

Sybil had everything she needed to be happy. She had her friends. She had her education. She had her Tom. With the gods on her side, everything would turn out well. Everything going to plan wasn't something Sybil was used to, but it was something she hoped would happen in this case. This plan was one that she hoped would follow her through the rest of her life.

* * *

 _This felt quite different to me, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me a review if you liked it._


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